1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a settlement terminal for executing settlement processing on the basis of settlement information acquired.
2. Discussion of the Background
Heretofore, settlement terminals have spread widely, typical of which is a CAT (Credit Authorization Terminal). The CAT reads magnetic information recorded on a credit card and executes settlement processing on the basis of the read magnetic information. With the development of various media capable of settlement, including IC cards and debit cards, such settlement terminals have come to be able to accept settlement processing using other media capable of settlement than credit cards.
According to the structure of a typical conventional settlement terminal, as described in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2002-133371, the settlement terminal is positioned on the upper surface of a housing, a keyboard and a display unit are disposed on front and rear sides, respectively, and a card reading groove for scanning a magnetic card is formed adjacent to the keyboard and the display unit. A printer mechanics unit is installed within the housing and settlement slips are printed and issued by the printer mechanics unit.
If conventional settlement terminals are constructed so as to accommodate printing paper (roll paper) for settlement slips therein, roll paper is in many cases disposed within the rear portion of the housing as in the settlement terminal described in the foregoing publication 2002-133371. This is apt to result in the appearance layout of a settlement terminal such that a keyboard, a display unit, and a roll paper receptacle portion, are arranged from the front to the back side. If such an appearance layout is adopted, the housing is compelled to extend backward due to the roll paper receptacle portion, thus giving rise to the problem that the entire device becomes larger in size.